With elections to the Welsh Assembly due next year, the red lights should be flashing for Labour
With all eyes fixed firmly on Labour’s disastrous performance in Scotland and much of England, last night should set alarm bells ringing for the party in Wales.
In 2010, Welsh Labour suffered what was deemed to be a difficult evening. The results at the time said it all. The loss of four seats saw the party take 26 in Wales whilst the Conservatives picked up an additional five to secure eight Welsh seats in the House of Commons.
Labour’s proportion of the vote fell by 6.5 per cent whilst the swing from Labour to Conservatives was 5.6 per cent.
Going into this year’s election, all the talk had been of Labour making albeit modest gains in Wales. As the final Welsh Political Barometer prior to the polls opening indicated, Labour were supposed to be on course to bag an additional two seats in Cardiff Central and Cardiff North.
With all 40 seats declared in Wales however, the results make for sobering reading. In the only bit of the UK that has a Labour Government, led by Carwyn Jones, the party saw itself make a net loss of one seat in Wales, whilst the Conservatives picked up an additional three to return 11 Welsh MPs.
This all comes on the back of results in last May’s European Elections which put UKIP in second place in Wales, less than 1 per cent behind Labour in the popular vote.
With elections to the Welsh Assembly due next year, the red lights should be flashing for Labour in Wales with election results going in the wrong direction.
Ed Jacobs is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter
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83 Responses to “The alarm bells should be ringing for Welsh Labour”
robertcp
You clearly do not want to comment on the policies in Labour’s manifesto. The reason for my questions is that it was clear which policies needed to change after Labour’s defeats in the 1980s. They were withdrawing from the EC (EU) without a referendum, extensive nationalisation, a siege economy, excessively progressive taxation, opposition to Thatcher’s laws on unions and unilateral nuclear disarmament. It is not clear what policies should change after this lost election.
Mattwales
The entire post I wrote didn’t mention labour policies you half wit, you’ve had an entire hissy fit over something I didn’t even say because you cant comment on what I actually said.
robertcp
I am a bit bemused why asking you questions is seen as a hissy fit.
Ben Skipp
Do you think this undermines the central point that Labour didn’t appeal to enough people outside of a core of those who have suffered severely, or are you saying that Labour can win without middle England? If so why aren’t they in power now?
Leon Wolfeson
You’re using wild and wooly categories. Let’s be more specific.
Labour tried to appeal to the LibDem Orange Bookers, by moving right. This failed. But by moving right, they alienated the non-Tribal parts of the left. Labour’s vote share in England and Wales increased somewhat (1.5% up overall, and that’s after Scotland’s losses), but not enough.